[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 21, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  WILLIAM M. (MAC) THORNBERRY NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR 
                            FISCAL YEAR 2021

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. GREGORY F. MURPHY

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 20, 2020

  Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my 
amendment, floor amendment 272 in en bloc two, which provides clarity 
to a decades-long controversy about funding for Fleet Readiness 
Centers. These Naval facilities on Marine bases are major national 
security assets for the United States. My amendment would clarify that 
military construction projects at FRCs, including FRC-East in my 
district, must be funded by the Department of the Navy rather than by 
the Marine Corps itself. FRCs are naval facilities that work on naval 
aircraft. That said, their construction projects should be paid for by 
the Department of the Navy. Military construction projects at FRCs have 
been starved for decades due to this bureaucratic confusion.
  Most of the industrial buildings at FRC-East are more than 50 years 
old because of this uncertainty. This lack of core investment can 
directly degrade the long-term readiness related to Marine Corps and 
Naval aviation. I thank the committee for including this amendment and 
I urge my colleagues to support it en bloc.

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